The company’s first major acquisition was World of Plastics, located in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. This acquisition, which added custom plastic fabrication for point-of-purchase to KDM’s production capabilities, was completed in August 2007.

“We had two main reasons for this acquisition. First, we wanted to keep fabrication internal. Secondly, we wanted to buy from the plastic manufacturers direct instead of going through a distributor,” says Tom Kissel.

Founded in 1980, World of Plastics was a supplier of plastic sheets, rods, tubes, and films. In 1992, the company opened its full-line plastic fabrication division that was outfitted with computerized equipment and a highly experienced staff. Today, the facility—now known as KDM South—continues to focus on plastic-display fabrication as an internal division of KDM P.O.P.

KDM South is both a distributor and a fabricator of those raw materials. “It has a unique product offering all its own. Many of our P-O-P kits are not complete without this division’s products such as acrylic literature holders and table tents,” Kissel says.

“Let’s say we get an order for a large P-O-P kit. KDM headquarters would do the printing on the plastics such as styrene, PVC, or acrylic. We would then send to KDM South and they would do the custom die cutting, routering, drilling, heat bending, and assembly of finished product, and then distribute it throughout the country from the Tennessee location. KDM cross-sells among its divisions,” Kissel continues.
Short-run and specialty

Next to join the KDM family was Advanced Digital & Screen Printing in Columbus, Ohio, which is now badged KDM North. Acquired in November 2008, KDM North has become the epicenter for KDM’s short-run and specialty digital business.